Teachers are being invited to apply to become subject advisers to Oak National Academy in a recruitment campaign launched by the quango this morning.
The government arm’s-length curriculum resources body is seeking experienced classroom teachers, school curriculum leads and subject specialists to join its first six Subject Expert Groups (SEG) in a voluntary role.
The move comes amid ongoing criticism from teachers’ and heads’ leaders, who are sceptical about the organisation’s claim to be “by teachers for teachers” since it was taken over by the Department for Education.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, told Tes there is a “deep tension in Oak between its status as a government agency and its wish to present itself as an organisation ‘by teachers, for teachers’”.
“It is difficult for Oak to claim that it wants to attract educationally ‘diverse’ applications to its expert groups when it has already adopted ‘guiding principles’ ,which echo the enthusiasms of ministers and embody some of the most controversial elements of Ofsted’s reviews of curriculum research,” he said.
Controversy over Oak National Academy
Mr Courtney added that an “independent body promoting curriculum development would be a good thing, but that is not the direction in which Oak is moving”.
Oak is aiming for its first six sets of resources and lessons in maths, English, science, geography, history and music to be available from September.
Subject advisers will advise and give feedback on future Oak content, from curriculum sequences to sample lesson resources.
For each subject group Oak will be looking to recruit between 12 to 15 members, Tes understands.
The recruitment will be a blind process, meaning applications will be anonymised, which Oak says will ensure “only expertise will count in the process”.
The group will be made up of those recruited through the process as well as representatives from established organisations or notable experts who are linked to curriculum development and impact, such as subject associations
Oak was relaunched by the DfE as an arm’s-length body in September last year.
At the time, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, said Oak’s new role was “mission creep”.
He also warned that the move could make it harder for schools to recruit and retain teachers if classroom autonomy was undermined, and questioned why Oak was being given £43 million in government funding.
Today Mr Barton said the union had “grave misgivings about Oak National Academy in its present form”.
Mr Barton said the decision to turn Oak into an arm’s-length body “threatens the viability of other education publishers and has the potential to reduce the choice of resources available to schools until they are left with one option - Oak”.
“Any further development of Oak should be suspended to allow for proper consultation with the education sector,” he added.
Matt Hood, chief executive officer of Oak National Academy, said that ”Oak is a collaboration of teachers and experts sharing to help their peers”.
Mr Hood said it was “important” to “hear from and represent a diverse range of views from across the sector”.
“By joining our Subject Expert Groups or the permanent board, teachers can help shape our work and how we support fellow teachers across the country,” he said.
“Subject Expert Groups will be instrumental in developing our new resources, with tens of thousands of fellow teachers and millions of pupils benefitting from their work. Classroom teachers and curriculum experts also have a vital role to play in our governance. Oak’s independent board is responsible for overseeing all our work, so its vital teachers are at the heart of this.”
A spokesperson for Oak National Academy said: ”Whilst Oak will always be an entirely optional starting point, we want to make sure our resources can be helpful to as many different schools as possible. We’d therefore encourage teachers, experts and sector representatives with a whole host of differing views to take this opportunity to get involved in shaping Oak, and work together to support their peers.”
And a DfE spokesperson said: “The Oak National Academy has been designed by teachers, for teachers to benefit both teachers and pupils.
“Oak National Academy enables teachers to access entirely optional, free and adaptable curriculum resources and lesson plans. This helps cut down on workload and gives teachers materials that can provide the best possible support to pupils.
“We value the importance of a competitive commercial market and so it will always be teachers who choose whether or not to use Oak’s or any other provider’s materials.”
